At last the weather has relented and we have been able to have a field day to play with antennas and have a general get together. The day started with putting up Martin, G7RQD's, new porch awning for his caravan. The help was very much appreciated as this was the first time it had been erected and there were no instructions!
 Meanwhile, Mark, 2E0VKZ, had deployed his portable quarter-wave vertical for 40m which seemed to work well but would benefit from some guying in anything other than a gentle breeze.
With the shelter taken care of (rain was forecast!) the serious business of building the proposed quad for 17m commenced. This was undertaken by Terry, G0BRP, assisted by Peter, M0PCR and Peter, G4HNU. Meanwhile Martin helped Mark, 2E0VKZ, get his Carolina Windom - the 40m and up version - into the trees. We made a few contacts on both aerials but then it was time to fire up the BBQ for lunch.
The afternoon was spent working contacts on 17m and comparing the qualities of the two aerials. The big surprise of the afternoon was that the Windom outperformed the quad on several occasions, even though the quad was resonant on the band it was cut for. The bonus was that the Windom could also be used on all bands up to 10m including all the WARC bands. This would make it a good aerial to have available as a check antenna or for general use, as it is so easy to deploy and takes up minimum space. Details are available at hamuniverse.com
